Totting-up rule fails to add up for top jockeys

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System that usually punishes the most prolific and successful riders is starting to look counter-productive

Ask any leading Flat jockey to name his pet hates about the job and it will not be long before the totting-up system of suspensions is raised. This alone does not render it wrong — punishments were never meant to be popular — but this invidious form of double jeopardy has created a landscape that demands debate.

Next week, Richard Hughes will join Jamie Spencer on a long, enforced holiday after accruing more than 24 days of interference bans inside 12 months. Ryan Moore and Johnny Murtagh — the latter quite remarkably in view of his limited appearances here —